


Good things come in three's.

by RussianSunflower3



Series: Sunflower's Seijou week [2]
Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Gen, Seijou Week, Year 1//Year 2// Year3
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-15
Updated: 2016-03-15
Packaged: 2018-05-26 22:39:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,927
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6258571
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RussianSunflower3/pseuds/RussianSunflower3
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Life goes on.</p>
<p>Aobajousai, over the course of three years, never loses the bond between each other.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Good things come in three's.

When people saw Aobajousai play, it was almost as if they were watching the same person divided amongst the court. It was like they were linked, completely the same in the way they processed things. Some observers joked that they had a telepathic link set up between them. But the truth was almost opposite. They worked so well together, because they were completely different. 

They faced diverse directions, but their backs were pressed together and that was what made them strong. As the year, passed, however, they started to step in these separate directions, going their own way and splintering from each other. That was never truer than when they graduated, the last practice ever finishing in tears and unsure looks between each other, not wanting to leave but fearing being left behind if they didn’t go.

**Year 1**

In one year, Matsukawa would be starting on writing a novel, inspired by his university lecturer in Japanese literary. He would write with all his heart, pouring emotions into each page. But the stressed facial expression as he wrote, and the little moments of tragedy were not to mistake the book genre. It was a comedy book, filled with adventures that, if their underclassmen were to read it, they would recognise as the multiple events that happened at Seijou. Matsukawa would sip at coffee, grimacing when he tasted anything other than regular black. He didn’t understand how the staff could fuck up an order like that, but sometimes there was cream in his coffee. 

In one year, Hanamaki would stretch himself across the sofa in his apartment, flicking through channels as he tried to find something amusing to watch as background noise whilst he studied through his chemistry books. He would settle on cartoons, but accidentally get distracted and end up completely invested in the TV screen. His chemistry would be left for another midnight job, but that was just fine. He was almost top of the class, so a little distraction didn’t hurt.   
Every morning at 8, he would Skype Matsukawa so they could reminisce about how _easy_ high school had been in comparison. He had no idea that the notes Matsukawa took as they spoke were their own words, things that he could put into his book. When his alarm went off at 9, he’d blow a kiss at the computer screen before logging off and heading to lessons.

In one year, Iwaizumi would be kneeling on a volleyball court, sweat dripping from his skin and panting from exertion. He wouldn’t dare to lift his head, clenching a fist as it pressed against the floorboards and gritting his teeth together before one of his Senpai came over to lead him back to their coach. He would limp, enough for the entire court to see, because once again, he had failed to get the last spike in, but this time he had landed awkwardly. Brown eyes would watch him sadly from the other side of the net.

In one year, Oikawa would be watching his best friend limp in the opposite direction. He had just won his first official match as a setter for his university team, but he couldn’t feel happy about it when the cost was potentially too high. Later, he would text Iwaizumi, but there would be no reply. There wouldn’t be any contact between them for a long while.   
He’d obviously keep in contact with their underclassmen, annoying his roommate with his constant nattering over the phone as he spoke to the team he had previously been on. From what he understood, they had some amazing new first years and were climbing back up to their original ranking before Karasuno appeared. Oikawa would drink from a juice box as he listened, before the call would end and he’d be left in silence.

In one year, things would be just as crazy at Seijou. Yahaba would put his face in hands and mumble about how being Captain was a full time parenting job, how the hell did his seniors manage this? His vice captain, Watari, wasn’t much help as he doubled over laughing at the mess their underclassmen had gotten into now. It turned out that one of their new first years was a bit of a prankster, and Kindaichi was currently stood in front of the two covered in blue paint and feathers. Kunimi snickered at the side, whilst Kyoutani stormed after the ones responsible, having been splashed with the blue paint as it had fallen onto their poor middle blocker.

Even so, with all their differences, Seijou had not yet crumbled. There were cracks in their communication, but they were still good friends, even if they weren’t a team any more.

**Year 2**

In two years, Matsukawa’s regular coffee shop would have closed due to the owners going into debt. He would scowl all the way to the closest one, which was nowhere near as good, but he would run into a familiar face. It turned out that the former captain of Dateko had gotten a job to help fund his small apartment close by. On break, Moniwa would sit with him and they’d talk about how they missed all the crazy shit their kouhai got up to. A friendship would be born, and with new material, Matsukawa would complete his book faster than expected. He’d approach publishing companies, determined to get his book out into the world and bring joy to people. He found one after just a month.

In two years, Hanamaki would jump backwards as he knocked a flask onto the floor, the contents spilling and mixing in with a concoction the student walking past had dropped in surprise. They’d both be heartbroken that their experiments had been interrupted, but then they’d go to clean up the mess and notice crystals forming in the mixture. Curious, they’d grab a microscope to observe their structure, and sure enough, they had accidentally created a new medicine.   
Hanamaki and his new science partner would be rewarded and their medicine tested thoroughly before being released for use in hospitals. He’d receive invitations to pharmaceutical companies around the world, but in the end he would stick close to home. The profit from the accident gave him enough to upgrade to a two bedroom apartment, and being the closest to Oikawa’s university, the setter would move in with much excitement. Hanamaki wondered what he’d gotten himself in to. 

In two years, Iwaizumi would walk around university campus with a cane to support his ankle, which had never really healed and only gotten worse as he refused to accept it and continued with volleyball until he physically could not. He should have known better, after nursing Oikawa through his knee problem in middle school, but things had been building up and he had pushed himself past his limits with no one to stop him. He immersed himself in his studies, finding it ironic that he had ended up with one of the injuries he would possibly work to prevent in the future. The course was hard and difficult; he barely had time for himself anymore.   
By the end of those two years, Iwaizumi would have a burnout and completely shatter and meltdown as he caved into the abyss he had dug himself into, salty water pouring from his eyes and soaking into the bed sheets beneath him with pure sorrow and torment. He would end up calling the one person who knew him more than he knew himself, someone he hadn’t called in just over a year.

In two years, Oikawa would be sitting on the edge of his bed in Hanamaki’s apartment and speaking softly over the phone with a worried expression and a hint of fear. It would only take him two minutes to realise the seriousness and he’d keep the phone pressed between his shoulder and his ear as he rushed to get dressed. Hanamaki would appear in the doorway, intending to tell Oikawa to shut up because it was four in the morning, but Oikawa would make a couple of hand gestures and the same expression would dawn on Hanamaki’s face before he ran to get ready too, grabbing his car keys before they bundled out the door.   
Oikawa would bite his lip and pick at dry skin the whole drive over, never ending the phone call because he had no idea if this would get worse. It turned out, Hanamaki had text Matsukawa too, and all three had arrived at the same university at the same time. They’d snuck through the reception area, and following instructions through the phone, had manoeuvred through the dorm corridors until Iwaizumi opened his door and was instantly tackled into a four-way hug.   
It had been two years since they’d all seen each other face to face, but they were closer than ever. They’d stayed the weekend. Just in case, Oikawa said. Just in case, the others had agreed.

In two years, Yahaba would be getting his first job. He had cast aside the university route, preferring to get straight into a career and climb the ladder from the inside. At first, he was only a coffee supplier and messenger boy. At the end of his first year out of Seijou, he had a cosy little desk with a graphics tablet and was working on clearing up the line art for the first manga he had been allowed to work on. Occasionally, he would pause to send a text to his boyfriend.

In two years, Kyoutani would have softened considerably. He had learnt what it meant to be a friend, and how important it was to show people you cared. He volunteered at the kennels just across town, spending his days surrounded by dogs of all breeds and ages, helping them settle into their temporary homes whilst their owners were on holidays. His co-workers found it amusing how he basically turned into a big kid whenever a more excitable dog would jump up at him, tail wagging, and attempting to lick his face. Kyoutani was good with the animals, and he got along fairly well with his co-workers thanks to the things he learnt from Seijou.   
Every now and then, Kyoutani would pause between pens to answer a text message from his date. It was a common topic in the staff room, to talk about what kind of girl Kyoutani would date. His lips would twitch up as he drunk a bottle of energy drink. They were all completely wrong. His partner wasn’t a girl, nor was ‘she’ an outdoor person or a wrestler. _He_ was a nerd who dedicated his life to cleaning up manga in an office.

In two years, Watari would be taking a coaching course. Having played both Libero and Setter positions in his school life, he was well-suited to teaching others. It was only a six month course, but once it had finished, he quickly found a place where he could help children first starting volleyball. He was great with all the children, especially as he was a bit of a child himself. Watari got a lot of blackmail material from Takeru that he fully intended to use on Oikawa when they met once more. Not out of spite, but just because it was hilarious to watch Oikawa splutter and blush in shame at some of things he did.

In two years, being the only members of the original team left, Kindaichi and Kunimi had taken up the roles of Captain and Vice-captain. Surprisingly, it was Kunimi in charge. Part of it came from the fact that he was a great listener, but also because he was a great _watcher_. Whilst he couldn’t draw peoples strength out of them like Oikawa did, he could identify what they could do and gave instructions that benefitted this. Secretly, the second and first years called him the team dad. If Kunimi was the team dad, then...   
As Kindaichi lectured their current libero for tripping over the net he hadn’t been holding properly, hands on hips and a disappointed frown, the underclassmen decided he was definitely team mum. Alongside that, he was their Ace, with a strong number 4 on his back that he brandished proudly. Only Kunimi and their coaches knew the reason why Kindaichi had been so set on having that instead of the number 2 shirt, but he played better when he carried the pride of his former Senpai on his shoulders, so nobody complained.

But two years was a long time without the people they had grown extremely close to, and it was decided over facebook that the team of Seijou from Oikawa’s year group to Kunimi’s year group would meet up. Coach Mizoguchi arranged the whole thing, getting in contact with the families to pass on the news to their sons as they returned to celebrate the new year. 

They used the same camp they had during golden week every single year, and Mizoguchi waited with his hands on his hips. His eyes were drawn towards the driveway as a car came closer, and closer, and pulled up alongside his own. 

“You’re early.” At the brash first words that had been said in two years, Matsukawa laughed, slipping out the back left seat.

“What can we say? We were coming back to see our families for the new years anyways. Something you should know, since you arranged it~.” The coach huffed in amusement, feeling the corners of his lips twitch upwards before he was pulled into a bear hug by two of his former students. Hanamaki’s pat on the back nearly winded him, but he managed to still breathe. That was when something else caught his attention. Oikawa had moved from the seat behind the driver to the passenger side, and was handing a _cane_ over to Iwaizumi before the previous Ace awkwardly pulled himself out the car.

“ **What** did you _do_?!” Iwaizumi had the grace to look sheepish.

“I fucked up, so to say.” 

“Iwa-chan went through a rough patch, coach. You’ll have to forgive him for being an idiot- Gack! Iwa-chan! Don’t hit me halfway through a sentence!”

“I’m the idiot?! You’re the one who fucked up your knee first!”

“But mine healed! Mainly because you dragged me off court, but it healed!” Before they could delve into a full-blown argument, Mizoguchi placed a chilling hand on each of their shoulders.

“Why don’t you take your stuff inside and settle down? The others will be here soon.” Grumbling, they took their suitcases from the car and headed into the building, Matsukawa stealing Iwaizumi’s bag and getting whacked with a cane in return. Mizoguchi sighed as he watched them go, wondering why he didn’t consider the massive headache involved with this team.

“Coach!” He jolted up as he saw two familiar faces heading his way and he couldn’t help but smile. These two had only just left Seijou, and were working together in a small convenience store to make enough money to travel. Mizoguchi had a respect for them, seeing how they had matured. Surely, the quartet would behave with these two there to keep them under control.

“Kindaichi, Kunimi. Welcome.”

“Are we the first ones here?” Mizoguchi pointed over to the car and a smirk appeared when he saw how both of them lit up, Kindaichi bobbing a little in excitement. He tilted his head towards the building, and then the two speed-walked in. He heard shouts of joy behind him from the second they entered, knowing that Oikawa and Hanamaki would have launched themselves at the door as soon as it opened. They were an over-excitable bunch. 

It takes another 20 minutes until the whole team is gathered, and they’ve already set up futons in the main room, microwaved something quick, and have moved outside. From this location, they’ll be able to see the fireworks that are going off at the local park, as if they were on the edge of the park itself. They can already hear the thrum of the music and echoing voices from the crowds in nearby streets.   
Watari is play-wrestling with Hanamaki as Matsukawa talks video games with Kunimi, Kindaichi listening in eagerly but switching his attention between them and Iwaizumi on his left. Iwaizumi and Oikawa are bickering _again_ , like an old married couple. Yahaba tried to negotiate between them, but Kyoutani is snickering and not helping at all. 

“Listen! It’s starting!” Silencing immediately, they can hear the voices of the organisers in the park, echoing across the area through huge speakers. The chime of the crowd is even louder, and it’s a countdown to the firework display. A countdown to the new year. Hanamaki joins in first, shouting as loud as he can like he’s screaming to the world and trying to be heard above the crowds. There’s laughter amongst the team before they join in too, just in time to catch the last few seconds.

“Three!”

“Two!”

“One!”

**Year 3**

“HAPPY NEW YEAR!” With watery eyes, Oikawa stands up and draws their attention, the fireworks going off behind his back and illuminating him like a proud captain once more.

“Thank you for these two years! For the high school years before that! And the next year to come! I’m happy that I get to spend my life with such amazing people, and we’re gonna be friends for life, I promise!”

Year three begins with a dog-pile, tears of laughter and joy, and a unanimous promise that this team of Seijou will remain together, through all the sets of threes.


End file.
